- One of my favorite car companies, Dodge,
just announced an electric car.
(upbeat rock music)
This is a big deal.
Dodge's entire brand is based around screaming V8s,
tire smoke and not giving a heck what people think.
But ironically, what people think about this Dodge EV
will make or break the company's future.
Will people take Dodge seriously?
Will they be able to compete with EV big dogs like Tesla,
Ford and General Motors?
You can call it a comeback.
Just don't call it an electric car.
(upbeat rock music)
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Baby.
Oh, he's going crazy.
Oh.
(bright music)
- On July 8th, Stellantis, parent company
of Dodge and 13 other automotive brands gave us
the bare minimum information needed for us
to string together some thoughts on a potential Dodge EV.
As is the case for most release or reveal videos,
there was a lot of production,
some interesting promises and very little
of the actual car shown.
Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis stood in front of the lineup
of the historic Dodge family home to present
his brand's electrification strategy.
Quote "Dodge-
- [Tim] "Will not sell electric cars.
Dodge will sell American muscle."
- Which we could tell is American
from the bold type and color choices.
(eagle screeches) (patriotic music)
In 2024 Dodge will release the world's first
fully electric muscle car,
which if being what was said in the release is true,
we should start seeing landing at dealers
within the next three years.
The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares
said the automaker plans for five
gigafactories to support European and North American
production of those future EVs with a $35 billion investment
over the next five years,
Tavares confidently projected that by 2025,
98% of the vehicles sold in North America
will feature some sort of electrification.
And crucially the company thinks EVs will reach a cost
parody with the internal combustion engine in 2026,
meaning they'll cost the same to build, that's important.
But before we think too far ahead into whatever
a gigafactory is and what the future holds for the company,
let's take a look back and see how it got
to where it is under Stellantis,
because there's a good chance you're sitting there thinking
"I know what Dodge is, what the hell is Stellantis?"
Stellantis might sound like
a direct-to-video crossover sequel
between "Treasure Planet" and "Atlantis",
but it's Dodge's latest parent company.
The Dodge brand withstood multiple ownership
changes at Chrysler.
There was the 2009 bailout by the United States government,
and filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy,
which led to acquisition by Fiat.
When the Fiat and Chrysler
groups aligned to become Fiat Chrysler Automobiles,
not only did the now share a company name,
they also shared over a hundred manufacturing facilities,
extensive global supplier bases,
and more than 40 technology research and development centers
for their long list of vehicle brands.
After a failed attempt to merge with Renault
a few years later in 2009,
a new agreement was struck between FCA and the PSA Groupe,
that's the French collective consisting of Peugeot, Citroen,
Opel, Vauxhall, and many others.
The resulting corporation, Stellantis was established
on January 16th of this year with
a binding $50 billion merger,
making the Dutch domicile automaker
the second biggest in Europe, right after Volkswagen.
So what was in it for the PSA Groupe?
Well, it was a move towards sustainability.
While Tim Kuniskis continues to say that quote
"Performance made Dodge do it",
those big merger dollars weren't coming
without some sort of cash.
Groupe PSA has made sustainability in the form
of ride sharing, rental programs
and electrification programs already developing in the UK
a key pillar of its corporate structure,
meaning every brand under the broadened Stellantis umbrella
will be going in that direction as well.
Earlier this year Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares issued
a challenge for the group's brands,
including Dodge to prove themselves within a 10 year window
in exchange from much needed investment
in new models and technology.
So think about this.
Imagine your boss gives you 10 years
to turn your (bleep) around, otherwise you're done.
Those are the stakes for Dodge right now.
There are four EV platforms planned to be developed
by the end of the 2020's,
and overall the company announced more than 35 billion will
be invested by the end of this year.
35 billion.
People, myself included will certainly be questioning
Stellantis how they plan to turn Dodge,
a company known for fire-breathing, tire belching,
muscle cars green.
(car engine revs)
Over half a century ago when the Charger
and Challenger were introduced,
they made an impact on American muscle and bulked up demand
for horsepower on domestic roads.
And today the Dodge Challenger easily outsold
both the Camaro and the reigning Detroit champion,
the Mustang in the third quarter of 2019.
The latest generation of Challenger included
the 807 horsepower Demon, the world's fastest muscle car.
(car engine revs)
With that kind of reputation to live up to,
it's doubtful that the marketing alone
will do the trick to make EVs, sorry.
Emuscle desirable.
According to Stellantis, Dodge is one of the youngest
and most diverse customer bases
with the highest concentration of millennials,
who now account for quarter of the US population
with the highest spending power.
They also report that the demographic
has the highest EV acceptance.
In the past, Dodge's marketing has targeted
a pretty different crowd with their ad campaigns,
but some of those messages just aren't gonna work
in today's world.
(rock music)
So the 2021 Dodge marketing team came up
with their new tagline.
- Tear up the streets, not the planet.
- Freaking sick dude.
And that's not even the best line
the marketing group came up with.
Clearly Dodge isn't counting on the marketing
to do all the selling.
At least we hope not.
The Dodge brand has to count for something.
So the equation Dodge will lean on for EVs comes down to
spending power plus electric power plus horsepower equals
Dodge EV success.
Ultimately though, if none of those taglines
have sold you as Kuniskis says-
- Our customers purchase an experience, not a technology.
- So the automaker will need to find a solution
that protects the acceleration, torque and dynamics,
that makes Dodge customers buy Chargers, Challengers,
and even Durangos.
How do you preserve that fire-breathing, tire spinning
flavor with an EV?
(engine revs)
Since the Hellcat's super-charged V8
and it's 707 horsepower won't meet
emission standards forever,
And every one of the 14 Stellantis brands are expected
to have electrified offerings,
the Dodge brand is looking for power from another source.
While they waited it out as long as they could,
finding a way into the EV market was an inevitability,
even for Dodge,
if they want to stay competitive in a future that's less
fossil fuel reliant.
But Dodge being Dodge and going to the limit with everything
they do as proudly stated
in their "Excess drives success" motto,
the automaker isn't just gonna give customers
an electric option like the rest.
They're touting state-of-the-art battery tech like
solid state batteries considered by many to be
the Holy Grail of EV batteries to power their cars.
Stellantis said to expect ranges up to 500 miles of charge,
depending on vehicle size, that's insane.
There's four different electric vehicle platforms that are
collectively named Stella or STLA.
The Stella Small will handle efficient city mobility,
Stella Medium for premium vehicles and Stella Large,
which is where Dodge will most likely sit with its all wheel
drive performance and American muscle division.
And finally, the Stella Frame will underpin future body
on frame vehicles, such as the Ram pickup trucks
coming in 2024.
The Stella Large and Frame platforms will get ranges
up to 500 miles per charge, supposedly.
The longest projected range of any of their EVs
and admittedly much further than you can get
on a tank of gas.
The batteries that Dodge puts into these new muscle EVs will
be hugely important.
Seeing as they determine the amount of power,
the car can draw, how fast and for how far.
Stellantis is planning on developing and manufacturing
auto batteries in gigafactories,
which is a term we first heard from our boy Elon Musk
almost a decade ago.
Again, Dodge is running a little behind.
So while this made up word used to be a fun techie sounding
flashy marketing hook,
it's played into the lexicon as an accepted word to use in
reference to gigantic battery factories.
According to Kuniskis, auto engineers-
- Are reaching a practical limit of what we can squeeze
from internal combustion innovation.
- For that reason, Dodge is quote,
"Turning to EV technology as a natural evolution
of the modern muscle car."
- Dodge has made it this far by embracing evolution.
And it's the same way the hammerhead shark has thrived
at the top of the food chain.
- And you know what, I don't think that's like,
I don't think he's just being forced to do this.
Historically, with each increase of the heavy power plant
and horsepower numbers,
Dodge has also seen a significant rise in market share.
Whether the brand is embracing the EV concept
for the possibility of increasing horsepower
so customers can remain apex predators,
which I think is the goal of anyone who buys a Dodge or for
their increase in the market share,
Dodge is gonna have to boost the power with these Emuscles.
As Stellantis CEO Tavares noted quote,
"We have the technology to deliver the torque, dynamics
and acceleration feeling while also dramatically
reducing the emissions."
It sounds good to me, man.
Talk of a likely all wheel drive layout mixed with sweet
nothings about close to 900 horsepower and zero to 60
in two seconds being possibilities, it's awesome.
But what if it doesn't look cool?
What's not yet clear is if this Dodge EV
will be an electric version of the two door Challenger
or the four door Charge.
In the teaser video, the designers did include
the Fratzog logo,
which we saw illuminated in red against an otherwise black
and smoky obscured body of the new EV.
This logo was very intentional.
It was used in the '60's and '70's on Dodges grills,
which dodged says as a quote "Nod to the future,
which will bring about another great automotive era,
the era of the electrified muscle car."
I actually really dig this logo,
being a Mopar guy and owning a car with it on there makes me
feel nostalgic for a time
that I didn't really get to experience.
But now if this performance matches and far exceeds
the muscle cars of old, like I'd love it.
It's bad-ass.
Tavares is pledging to bring Dodge into the next century
while keeping its current attributes,
protecting the brand with new technology.
Dodge has always positioned their brand
as a sort of rebellious choice that stands out
with the in-crowd.
Their electrification strategy
could have been held out for this long
for any number of reasons,
whether it was waiting to see how the technology
and infrastructure developed,
or as a slow burn as to not alienate
their established customer base.
I kind of get why they waited.
Dodge waiting this long to hop
into the EV game means there's been plenty of time
for the competition to get a jump,
ranging from the Ford Mustang Mach-E,
to upcoming Tesla Roadster to the Porsche Taycan.
So this Dodge offering is really gonna
have to be impressive.
This move into already crowded EV territory could be
a gamble for Dodge as they stray away from their solidified,
traditional consumer base into greener pastures.
But they're also the brand that continues to bounce back.
Thank you very much for watching "Wheelhouse" this week.
Yes, it's a gamble for Dodge, but it's inevitable.
I think they're gonna pull it off.
For more info on EVs,
check out this video right here on whether or not electric
cars are better for the environment.
The answer might surprise you.
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